3 ms·
On a similar note, I've always found it kind of amusing/frustrating that forms in the US make you fill out city, state, and zip code, when in fact the zip code
by jfruh 15y ago
On a similar note, I've always found it kind of amusing/frustrating that forms in the US make you fill out city, state, and zip code, when in fact the zip code indicates a specific city and state. I realize that's a huge database of geolocation data to keep as part of the program, but I wonder if there could be some kind of lookup that goes on behind the scenes and fills in the city and state if the response is quick enough (and allows the user to fill it in manually if it doesn't).
- gujk 15y agoIPhoto computes city/state automatically from zip code.
- jgrahamc 15y agoIn the UK it's quite common for forms to ask you to type in your postcode and they then ask you to select your address. Because the postcode is very dense (your house number/postcode is unique), this makes address entry very easy.
- iloveponies 15y agoUntil you live at an address not in most people's postcode database. If you're lucky, you get to enter your address in manually. If you're unlucky, you're up for a phone call or total rejection - a few times I've had to collect parcels from neighbours.
- zbyszek 15y agoI had that experience recently; being told on the phone to a utility company "Sorry, but that address does not exist." to which I replied "I'm sure it does because I'm standing in it right now."
- rmc 15y agoRather than trying to convince them, make it into a Data Protection issue. If a company stores personal information on you, and you tell them it's wrong, then they legally have to correct it. So just tell them (in writing) that your address is X, Y, Z and if they don't change it, then they are breaking the law.
- URSpider94 15y agoThe database is not huge at all, fewer than 10k entries, each of which is a key-value pair. It's bigger than I'd want to include in a client-side Javascript file, but it's certainly small enough to keep on your server. The only problem with this is that, while all ZIP codes have canonical names, some also have additional allowed names that users may identify closely with. So, if you auto-complete the canonical name, the user may think that you've made a mistake.
- dmethvin 15y agoZip codes can and do cross both state and city boundaries in some cases. That's not true of zip+4 but most people don't know their extra 4 digits. Then there is the expected rhythm of filling in the form as city,state,zip so putting zip first throws people off. I did a form once where we put the country above city/state/zip so we could do the wording for those more appropriately (e.g., switch to "postal code") and even that was annoying to many testers.
- rhplus 15y agoThe mapping zip codes to city is not strictly 1:1. I don't have a better source for this, but the description in Wikipedia states: "The Postal Service designates one _default_ place name for each ZIP code... Additional place names may be recognized as _acceptable_ for a certain ZIP code." This means that someone may continue to write their address as Smalltown, EG, 12345, when technically it is Bigtown, EG, 12345. Of course, this would not be the case with zip+4, which like the UK postal code system, identifies a much smaller grouping of addresses. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_code#ZIP_codes_and_previous_zoning_lines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_code#ZIP_codes_and_previous...
- jfruh 15y agoHmm, but if I understand correctly how this all works, even if you vote and pay taxes in Smalltown, if Bigtown is the default placename for 12345, the post office will still happily deliver mail to your address even if the envelope says "Bigtown, EG 12345" on it. Of course, humans care about this stuff more than you can imagine. There was a minor kerfuffle in the Buffalo area a few years ago when a woman bought a house in Lancaster (an upscale suburb) only to find that the default placename for her zip code was Depew (a working-class suburb). She somehow managed to get someone at the newspaper to write a story about her plight, which included a note that her copy of Gourmet Magazine came late because she insisted on putting "Lancaster" in the city name. I'm not sure why that would affect anything unless she was also deliberately giving them the wrong zip code though.
- culturestate 15y agoThe Apple Online Store does this - you put in your street address and zip code, and it calculates the city and state.